


Coup de Foudre

by NicholasFlamelFan



Series: Of Ideas and Collections (The Alchemy Lab) [24]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014), The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Alive Kol Mikaelson, Character Turned Into Vampire, Esther's A+ Parenting, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Mikael's A+ Parenting, Past Child Abuse, Protective Klaus Mikaelson, Sibling Love, Vampires
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-20
Updated: 2020-03-22
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:08:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21874192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NicholasFlamelFan/pseuds/NicholasFlamelFan
Summary: It was only supposed to be a short job. Take care of the vampires murdering people and get out. What Sif hadn't counted on was Barry Allen getting in the way. Things quickly advance from the awkwardness to friendship and eventually love. Will they conquer the challenges life throws at both of them? How will Sif react to Barry becoming the Flash and how will they learn to live with that?
Relationships: Barry Allen & Caitlin Snow, Barry Allen & Cisco Ramon, Barry Allen & Iris West & Joe West, Barry Allen/Original Female Character(s), Elijah Mikaelson & Original Female Character(s), Klaus Mikaelson & Original Female Character(s), Kol Mikaelson & Original Female Character(s), Rebekah Mikaelson & Original Female Character(s)
Series: Of Ideas and Collections (The Alchemy Lab) [24]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1399345
Comments: 5
Kudos: 35





	1. Prologue

He was running, dodging past the few students who were on their way back to their dorms. Something was following him but he wasn't quite sure what it was. Actually, he was pretty sure that it was human – or at least it should have been. That thing was anything but human though and he had to admit that he was scared.

Barry had been on the way to the library when the back of his neck prickled. He might be a little bit oblivious to things sometime but that didn't mean that he didn't realise when someone was following him. Over the next ten minutes, the feeling had intensified until he had seen something. It was like a blur in an alley that ran alongside the road he was taking. That was when he had started running.

"Woah, careful," a girl laughed when he basically ploughed into her.

"I…" Barry looked around nervously, panting heavily. Maybe he should try to get in shape. He felt like he was about to die "Sorry. There was."

The girl waved him off "No harm, no foul." She smiled at him "I have to get going, so…"

"Right, sorry," Barry apologised, stepping to the side. He looked after her, having noticed the light accent that wasn't quite British. While the university of Central City was a good university, they didn't have as many international students and the girl looked barely old enough to attend university anyway. Then again, it could have been the braid that made her look younger than she was. That and he was crap at judging girls' ages just by looking at them.

He shook his head and continued on for a few more meters before he felt something grab him from behind, slamming him into the next wall. Barry let out a sharp scream when something pierced his neck.

* * *

Sif had just walked away from the guy that had run into her, searching for that thrice-damned vampire that had been killing people. Normally she didn't really care much if others were trying to expose themselves but this specific vampire was from a group that she had a bit of a grudge against. They had been around for several centuries and were of the mindset that they could do no wrong and Humans were too stupid to put one and one together.

"Ahhh." The scream made her whirl around and smirk darkly. There you go. Right on time.

She ran off into the direction the scream had come from before roughly pulling the vampire off the guy "You really shouldn't have done that," she whispered, twirling the stake in her hand "You really, really should have been more careful. You never know when someone might try and take care of the problem." The vampire bared his teeth at her, trying to fight against the tight grip she had on him. A groan startled Sif out of her glaring match "Well, so much for that." She narrowed her eyes on the vampire and quickly plunged the stake into his heart.

"What… was…?" Barry breathed, his hand clutching at his throat.

"A vampire," she pointed out "Come on. Up you get." She held out her hand, helping him to his feet "I'm Sif, by the way."

"Barry," he mumbled, swaying unsteadily.

She blinked "Oh, right. Blood." She bit into her wrist, not caring that he saw her vampire features. Sif had a feeling that she would have to explain whether she outed herself or not "Drink this. Don't look at me like that. It'll heal you even if it sounds disgusting."

"What the hell?" he asked as soon as he felt the blood working "What's going on here?"

"It's a long story," Sif grimaced.


	2. A Première Vue

Barry wrapped a trembling hand around the cup Sif had up in front of him and carefully raised it up to take a sip. He pulled a face as soon as the liquid hit his tongue "How much sugar did you put in there?"

"A lot," Sif shrugged "Drink. It might be gross, but it'll help." She watched as Barry continued to sip at the coffee for a few more minutes until he stopped trembling quite as hard as he had before "Better?"

"What…" Barry cleared his throat, raising his hand to his unmarred throat "How?"

Sif raised an eyebrow in amusement "Let me guess… What happened? Or maybe… What was he? How is your throat healed?" When the guy across from her nodded, she inclined her head "This is going to be a bit of a long story."

"I don't care," Barry shook his head "I just… I just want to know what really happened. Because this all seems like a really tasteless dream or a prank. Oh, my God, is this a prank?"

"Why would this be a prank?" Sif frowned in confusion.

Barry shrugged "I… I mean, maybe… This doesn't seem real, you know?"

"Actually, I don't," Sif told him "I have always been in contact with the Supernatural side of our world, so… Yeah."

"You say that as if there is a whole community out there," Barry blinked "Wait, it was… Sif, right?"

Sif nodded "Yup. And there might not be a community as such but there is a lot more to this world than you know. I'm sure about it."

"Don't I know," Barry grumbled, thinking about the night his mother died. There was so much he didn't know and even more that he was sure he didn't even want to know. Okay, maybe he did but that was beside the point. This was his chance to find out more and for once not be placated "So, what was he? What are you doing here? How did you heal my throat? Are you staying here for long?"

Sif raised an eyebrow at the flood of questions coming from Barry's mouth and grinned a little "I'm sure you have a theory already?"

"You won't laugh?"

"Well, considering that you're most likely going to be right… I would be a bit of a hypocrite, wouldn't I?" Sif shot back and leaned back in her chair "Now, go on. Amaze me and I might even broaden your world a little more than I should."

Barry looked at her "You're not arrogant at all, are you?" Sif choked out a laugh, shaking her head. Barry inhaled deeply and licked his lips "He was a vampire, right? I mean, it's all kinds of crazy but it does make sense."

"You're right," Sif agreed "He and his group are vampires who haven't yet learned that it's a bad idea to draw attention to themselves."

"That's why you're here," Barry realised "Are you going to kill them?"

Sif's eyes hardened "Yes. Okay, this is how it is. Every vampire on this Earth – and there are quite a few – descend from one family. The Original family consisted of six siblings who were turned into vampires. Each of them is the head of a so-called sireline."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Barry questioned.

"Because those vampires are from mine," Sif explained "I tend to make sure that I don't leave loose ends flying around."

Barry's eye widened "Wait! If you're one of these Originals… How old does that make you?"

Sif smirked "Didn't anyone ever tell you that it was rude to ask a lady her age?" she teased.

"Sorry," Barry gulped, his cheeks turning red "I…"

"Barry, calm down," she rolled her eyes in amusement "It's fine. I'm a bit over a thousand years old now. Give or take a few years. I tend to not count anymore."

"Oh God," he breathed, his mind whirling at the information the girl across from him was throwing at him. If he hadn't been attacked a bit ago, he wouldn't have believed her. Hell, an hour ago, he had been blissfully ignorant of the dangers that were lurking in the dark. Whether that made him feel better or worse, he didn't quite know yet.

* * *

The two of them talked for a while longer with Sif explaining about the Supernatural side of the world. About witches, werewolves and the other creatures that were roaming the Earth.

Sif was about to take her leave to look for the rest of the group when Barry reached out before she could disappear through the door "I want to come along," he said firmly, holding onto Sit's arm.

Sif raised an eyebrow "Why? You're safe. Why would you go and put yourself into danger even if it does nothing for you?"

"You don't have any backup," Barry pointed out desperately. He wanted – no, needed to come along. This was the first time, he had come close to finding out what happened to his mother and there was no way he was going to let it slip away. Not without a fight.

"I can take care of myself," she shot back.

"Just…" Barry sighed, running his hand through his hair "Please, Sif."

Sif looked at him for a moment and frowned "Why is this so important to you?"

Barry licked his lips, hesitating "I need another coffee for this conversation," he muttered, gesturing at the table they had just vacated.

"I take it you're offering to pay?" Sif smirked. She had no idea where this was going but this was the most interaction she had with Humans in a while, so why bother leaving in a hurry? The rogues would still be there in an hour. And since she now had a pretty good idea where they were, it would be an easy thing to find the others.

"What kind of gentleman would I be?" Barry smiled lightly.

Sif sat down at the table "I would have rated you as the Princess who needed to be saved from a dragon by a knight in shining armour."

Barry choked out a laugh "And I suppose that would be you?"

"Hm," Sif shrugged and leaned back "Now, you were going to tell me something?"

"Yeah," Barry nodded and took a long sip from his coffee "I just don't really know where to start."

Sif tilted her head at his nervousness "The beginning is usually a good place."

"I was eleven when my mother was murdered," Barry whispered, looking down at his cup "It was late. A sound woke me up. When I got downstairs, I saw what looked like a ball of lightning." He looked up at Sif "Inside the lightning, there was a man. He killed my mom. Meeting you and seeing this whole other world… It gave me hope again. I've been trying to find out what that man was for more than ten years. My dad was arrested for her murder. Everyone told me what I saw was impossible…"

Sif looked at him for another moment in silence before she nodded slowly "And now you've seen what you thought was impossible."

"Please, have you ever heard of anything like this? You said you were old…" Barry pleaded.

"No," Sif shook her head "I – I can look into it but I never heard of a man being… lightning."

Barry's shoulders slumped "Oh, okay."

"That doesn't mean that you'll never find out," Sif pointed out "You just have to keep on looking. Don't give up on your father, okay?" She got up and sighed "Are you absolutely sure that you want to stick around?"

"Yes," Barry nodded "This is my chance…"

Sif held up her hand, stopping what he was going to say "I will say this once. Just once. I saved you once because you didn't know what was going on. If you get eaten, I'll not be stopping them again. The rogues are going to die. It's just a matter of time. Get in the way and I won't be responsible for you."

"Yes," Barry nodded, looking very puppy-like in his excitement "Done. Yes."

Sif turned around and sighed internally "What did I get myself into?"

* * *

"So," Barry spoke up after a few minutes of walking in silence "How do we find them?"

Sif stopped "Well, for now? You're going to take me back to wherever it is you're staying. There won't be much action until later."

"What do you mean?"

"The vampires I'm looking for are Nightwalkers. That means they have to stay somewhere dark during the day. An abandoned house or warehouse being the most obvious solution here," Sif explained.

Barry blinked in surprise "Nightwalkers?"

"Sunlight burns us," Sif explained quietly "There are basically two groups of vampires. Nightwalkers who can only be out at night. During the day, they hide, sleep or do whatever else they can to stay out of the sun. Daywalkers are the exact opposite. They have found a way to walk in the sun. Not a lot of vampires know the secret or a way to become Daywalkers."

"But you do," Barry pointed out, opening the door to his dorm room. He stepped to the side and let Sif in. When she froze just before the doorway, he frowned "What is it?"

She sighed "You're going to have to invite me in, Barry."

Barry blinked in confusion "Erm… You're invited in?"

"Thanks." Sif inclined her head and looked around curiously. It was cleaner than she had expected from a college student. Then again, she hasn't been around many people. It only brought pain and suffering in the end.

"So, how do we find them?" Barry questioned.

"There it is again," Sif pointed out "The 'we'. You're really serious about wanting in on this."

Barry stopped what he was doing "Of course, I am."

"Sorry, sorry." She held up her hands in surrender "That just never happened before."

"I'm not surprised," Barry mumbled "I take it most people tend to freak out?"

Sif laughed "Not all of them. But yes, the majority does tend to have a bit of a breakdown." She got up and looked over Barry's shoulder when he started frantically typing on his computer "What are you doing?"

"You said that they were most likely in an abandoned building or warehouse, right?" he asked and gestured to the screen "I'm trying to find all the possible matches within a radius of…"

"Ten miles," Sif told him when he trailed off "It's unlikely that they're straying further than that. Not with all of the victims being college students."

Barry nodded and continued to work on his computer "Okay. There are about twenty warehouses and thirty houses that could fit. Here." He shuffled to the side and let Sif look through the list.

"I think I can shorten the list a bit more," Sif mumbled, her eyes trailing over the screen. After about twenty minutes, she looked down at the paper she had been writing on "Okay, so essentially there are ten warehouses and eighteen houses that I need to check." She checked the clock and sighed "The sun won't be up for another four or five hours, so if you want to go to sleep, now would be that moment."

Barry studied her carefully "You're going to leave as soon as I am asleep, aren't you?"

Sif shrugged "Look, you really helped a lot and I thank you for that. But I don't think you should get into this more than you already are. Not with you being practically…"

"Hey, I can take care of myself," Barry exclaimed.

"But not against vampires. I'm sorry, Barry but this is where we part," Sif told him.

Barry stared at her incredulously "But you promised."

"I told you that you could come along. I didn't tell you that I would take you to the confrontation," she pointed out "You want to find your mother's killer and I can respect that but getting killed by rogue vampires isn't the answer here."

"Will I see you again?" Barry sighed, relenting against his better judgement.

Sif grinned "Maybe."

* * *

About halfway through the list of properties, Sif stopped and sighed. So far, there hadn't even been a hint of the vampires. Nothing that could point her in the right direction. What she did have was an overly curious guy who was trying to be sneaky by following her… loudly.

She flashed off, leaning against the wall behind where Barry was standing. Just when he was starting to look around in confusion, she spoke up "You do know that I could hear you from ten miles away, right?"

Barry jumped violently, pressing his hand to his chest "Shit, Sif…" he cursed "You scared me."

"Be glad that I only scared you. The rogues wouldn't have had a problem with killing you before you could blink," she pointed out viciously before sighing in defeat "You're not going to leave this alone, are you?"

"Not a snowball chance in Hell," he shot back.

Sif groaned "Fine. I see that I can't win."

The two continued on their way, walking next to each other quietly "Thank you," Barry spoke up.

"Yeah, yeah," she waved her hand "If you're really sure about this… I have an idea."

"Tell me," Barry nodded, stopping to look at her.

* * *

Sif froze when she heard something ahead of them "Shh," she hissed.

"What…?"

Barry was cut off by Sif speeding him against a wall with her hand over his mouth "I said, be quiet," she demanded under her breath "They are in there."

"You can hear them?" Barry whispered.

Sif nodded and closed her eyes for a moment "There are three of them and they know that I'm after them. Stay here. I need to hurry."

"No way," Barry protested quietly "I'm not leaving you alone."

"They are going to kill you," she pointed out.

"I can protect myself and you're going to help too, right?" he asked, almost sure of himself. Despite her earlier protests, she seemed to make sure that he was safe. Otherwise, Sif wouldn't have confronted him. After all, it would have been his own fault if he had gotten hurt.

Sif narrowed her eyes "I'm not arguing with you. Stay out of sight."

"I think it's too late for that," a dark voice spoke up from behind them.

Sif cursed and whirled around in time to catch the fist that was flying towards her face "So it is you, Cal. I was wondering who would be stupid enough to…" She broke off and dropped to the ground, avoiding the attack of the second vampire.

"Well, you know me," Cal smirked, nodding to his friend. They circled around the Original who straightened up. Sif knew what they were trying to do and honestly, it got old pretty fast. She wasn't intimidated by them.

"Still," Sif shrugged "I never thought you of all people would have been stupid enough to risk exposure."

Cal raised his eyebrow "You think I'm scared of you, Sif? You forget that I know you."

"That's what you think," Sif pointed out "You don't know as much as you think, Cal." With that, she moved to the side quickly, staking the vampire that had been behind her with the stake that she had just pulled out of her sleeve.

"Sif," Barry croaked out in fear.

The Original looked over her shoulder, seeing her new friend pinned against the wall with a hand around his throat "Let him go," she demanded. They weren't hurting him, not yet, so she still had some time to play.

Cal walked up to her and threw an arm around her shoulders "I don't think we will. You care for him and that means that he's out ticket out of here."

"You don't really think that, do you?"

"Oh, I know that," Cal told her, ruffling Sif's hair "You know, I missed having you around."

Sif crossed her arms, keeping an eye on Barry. This was starting to go too far but she wanted Cal to feel safe for now. He didn't know how old she really was. Even back in the day, she never trusted him and apparently, that proved to be the right decision. While she hadn't known that it was Cal before now, her plan was sure to work "That feeling is everything but mutual."

"Aww, Siffy," Cal cooed, running his hand down her face mockingly.

"You're even more stupid than I thought," she mumbled, rolling her eyes.

Cal raised his hand to hit her when he found his hand caught in her grip "What…?" He let out a shot when the bones in his hand shattered "How are you doing this? You're nothing."

"Do you really think that?" Sif asked, twisting his hand some more "You have risked exposure. You and your good for nothing friends. For that, you'll pay."

Cal was kneeling on the ground in front of her "You do anything to me and your friend will die."

"Who? Your dead friend?" she asked when Barry let out a small whimper when the vampire fell backwards. His hand was still clenched around the piece of wood he had rammed into the vampire's chest.

"You bitch," Cal spat "You planned this."

Sif smirked "Of course, I did. You think you're so strong. You're nothing compared to me. You're a child."

"Sif," Barry breathed, still staring at the dead man at his feet "I killed him…"

"It's fine, Barry," she told him "You're fine."

"Cute," Cal sneered.

Sif shot him a glare "You're really getting on my nerves." She let go of the hand she was still holding and as soon as the other vampire shot up, she punched her hand into his chest "Goodbye, Cal," she whispered, pulling out his heart.

* * *

A week after Sif and Barry met, Barry looked over at the girl lounging on his bed "Why didn't you just compel me?" he asked.

Sif looked up "Honestly? I have no idea. I kind of like you, so maybe I wanted to keep you around for a while. I don't know… Why?"

"I'm just wondering what you're doing with me," he shrugged.

"And you mean…?"

Barry flopped down on the other end of the bed and threw his head back "I'm a nerd. Always have been," he started "I don't understand why someone like you…" He gestured to her "Would hand out with someone like me."

"Do I look like someone who cares about you being a nerd?" Sif asked "I don't care what others think about you. You're smart and you can handle yourself in dangerous situations. You killed one of the rogues which… I still have a bit of trouble believing, by the way. But you managed and that is more than good enough for me."

"It was your plan," Barry shrugged.

Sif raised an eyebrow "Having a plan and you doing it are two different things entirely," she pointed out.


	3. La Force de l'Amitié

It had been a few months since they took care of the rogue vampires and Barry couldn't be happier with how things turned out. Sif had stayed in Central City, for the most part, even going so far as to buy a house relatively close to Campus. She had gotten into the habit of waiting for him after his classes whenever she was in town and they did a lot of things together. Barry showed her around town. His friends had barely believed him when he told them about Sif. They had seen him leave with her and annoyed him for most of the day until he had gotten fed up with their questioning.

Barry fell down on the couch next to Sif, feeling more than a little exhausted "I hate my life," he groaned, throwing his arm over his eyes.

"Why do you smell like fire?" Sif asked, glancing over at him.

"Some idiot thought it was a good idea to try and burn down the dorms," Barry explained "They are uninhabitable for a while which means I'm going to have to move back in with Joe."

Sif got up from the couch and walked over to a dresser. She threw a pair of keys at Barry "Here."

The keys bounced off his chest as he blinked "What…?"

"From what you told me, Joe lives further away than I do, right?" Sif questioned, waiting for Barry to nod before she continued. She shrugged "There is your solution. I have enough space as it is. You're welcome to stay here."

"But this is your house," Barry protested, trying to hand back the keys.

Sif nodded "Exactly. So, it's my decision when I ask you to stay," she pointed out "I really don't mind." She shot him a grin "Unless you want to move back home. Then that's totally fine with me."

"No," Barry said quickly, blushing when it came out faster than he expected "I mean… If you sure that you won't mind."

"I don't."

"Then I'd love to stay here," Barry smiled "Although I don't have any of my stuff. They won't let us in for another few days."

Sif shrugged "I think I have some clothes that could fit you," she murmured "They belonged to one of my brothers."

Barry shook his head "I couldn't… I'm going to grab some stuff from Joe's."

"Okay," Sif hummed "You're welcome to choose a room." She glanced down at her phone "Listen, I'm going to be out of town for a few days, so you can take the car if you want. Make yourself at home and try not to burn down the house."

"Yes, mother," Barry snorted, shaking his head. Ever since the two of them had become friends, Sif allowed him to crash at hers and take her car when he needed it. The only thing that he wasn't allowed to touch without her being present was her bike. Not that he minded. It felt awesome to ride her bike with her. The thought alone caused him to blush. He couldn't deny that Sif was beautiful and despite the fact that she could be cold sometimes, he was starting to feel more than friendship for her the more time they spent together.

Sif threw a pillow at his head and put her hands on her hips mock sternly "Make sure you eat, young man. And don't you dare forget to clean."

Barry burst out laughing at her and almost fell off the couch "Please just go."

"Fine, fine," Sif sighed "I can see when I'm not wanted."

"I'll see you," Barry waved, watching her leave with a small smile on his face.

* * *

"I'm home," Barry called out, closing the door behind him. He was exhausted. It was the end of the summer semester and his professors loved throwing them into the deep end when it came to exams.

Sif glanced over her shoulder before turning back to the stove "Kitchen."

Barry followed her voice, leaning against the doorway "Hey." He noticed the smell that was wafting in the air and sniffed "What are you making?"

"Bœuf Bourguignon," Sif said "I haven't actually made it in a while but… I think it should still be good."

"French?"

"Hm," she nodded "Honestly, I might have been born here but if I go by the last centuries, I spent most of my time in France."

Barry tilted his head "Out of curiosity… Do you have a French passport?"

"And a visa," Sif said "Going by anyone's definition, I'm French."

"Huh," Barry blinked "Good to know." He snuck forward, reaching out with a spoon he had snatched.

Sif slapped his hand away, causing him to pout. She rolled her eyes "I'm done in five minutes. I'm sure you can wait that long?"

"But I'm hungry," he shot back, shooting her his best puppy eyes.

"Not going to work," she smirked "Get the bread and set the table, will you?"

Barry huffed and slinked over to the cabinet "Fine." He shot her a mock sad look "You're mean."

"I know," Sif shrugged "How was your exam, by the way."

"Urgh," Barry groaned "Don't remind me."

Sif snorted "That good, then?"

Barry slumped down on his chair "Yes. No. I don't know," he mumbled "My brain feels fuzzy. Is that normal?"

"Drama queen," Sif shook her head, putting the food on the table "Enjoy."

"Oh, food," Barry exclaimed, reaching out to put as much on the plate as possible. Sif didn't cook often but when she did, it was amazing. She was best with French and European cuisine but she was pretty good at grilling too. It was a little sad that he couldn't taste her cooking more than once every month but who was he to argue? She was still cooking way better than anything he could manage "Holy shit," he mumbled around a full mouth "I think I love you, Sif. If not for the food alone."

"Good to know," she rolled her eyes.

* * *

"Come on, please?" Barry begged, widening his eyes pleadingly "It will be fun. I promise."

Sif crossed her arms "That's what you said the last time when you dragged me to that weird game of yours. News flash, Barry. It was boring and I have no idea what the hell happened.

"'Weird game'?" Barry echoed in disbelief "Weird game? You dare call D&D a weird game?"

"I have no idea what it's about," Sif exclaimed "It's not like you didn't get lost in your nerdiness and forgot that I was there as soon as the game started."

Barry opened and closed his mouth "How… I did not forget about you."

"Oh yeah?" Sif asked "You didn't even notice that I left about an hour in and came back around midnight."

"Wait, you left?" Barry blinked.

Sif gestured at him "See? You didn't notice anything."

"Okay, okay," he huffed "Point taken. But please. This will be fun. I promise."

"Alright," Sif sighed "What is it?"

Barry held out a controller for her to take "Ever placed Mario Kart?"

Sif looked from Barry to the controller and over to the TV "I don't even…"

"Blasphemy," he gasped "Please tell me you at least know Mario."

"That Italian dude with the red cap?" Sif frowned.

Barry threw up his hands half relieved and half exasperated "Thank you, God. Yes. That Italian dude."

"Okay."

"How are you so in tune with the world and yet so out of tune?" Barry shook his head "It's ridiculous."

Sif shrugged "Maybe I was busy? Video games haven't been around that long yet."

"Still," he mumbled "Oh well. Now that you have me, I can introduce you to everything you didn't know and probably don't want to."

"Joy," Sif deadpanned, looking at the controller again "So how does this work?"

Barry scooted a bit closer to Sif and explained which button did what and how she could control the car. Once she got it, he started the first game.

Half an hour later, Barry was ready to throw down the controller "How are you that good? You didn't even know the game before…"

Sif shrugged "It's not like it's rocket science."

"But… But… I'm the Mario Kart champion," Barry spluttered, cursing when he was pushed off the Rainbow road again.

"I can see that," Sif shot back in amusement, ending the race in first place. Again.

"Okay," Barry huffed, grabbing the controller from her "Enough of that. Movie or another game?"

Sif hummed "How about we watch a movie and maybe later?"

Barry looked at her and smirked lightly "I think I have the perfect movie for this."

"And all of a sudden I'm afraid," Sif said, looking at him in trepidation "What is it?"

"You'll see." Barry put in the movie, making sure that Sif didn't see the case. He had borrowed the movie from Iris earlier this week, telling her that he heard the movie was good. She had bought it as soon as it has gotten out last month, so it wasn't like she needed to watch it anytime soon. Although she had been surprised because Barry had vehemently refused to read the book after the first chapter.

Barry leaned back and hand to stop the groan from escaping his mouth. Why did he think this was a good idea again? He was bored out of his mind and he was sure that the movie wasn't even close to being done. A quick glance to Sif showed her watching the screen intently. Please, don't let her be one of those who actually enjoyed bad vampire movies. He didn't have to wait long for an answer.

_Edward turned around with an open shirt "This is what I am," he said, his skin sparkling in the sunlight._

Sif stared at the screen with an open mouth, her face the perfect image of shock and disgust "What the bloody hell...?"

Barry snorted at her expression, trying to stop the relief from showing. She had been way too interested in the movie, although now that he thought about it, that could have been for different reasons "You don't secretly sparkle, do you?"

"Fuck you, Barry," she grumbled "What is this shit?"

"Twilight," he shrugged, grin still on his face "Iris likes it."

Sif shivered "How can anyone…? No. Just no. I'll do anything you want but please don't make me watch this crap."

"Oh, come on," he teased "Don't you want to watch some more sparkling vampires?"

"Barry, this is the real world," Sif pointed out, throwing the TV a look that would have made it burst into flames if she still had her magic "Vampires burn in the sun. They don't… sparkle like undead disco balls."

Barry snorted "I have to remember that one."

"I'm serious," she gestured "Also, it wasn't like you enjoyed it anyway. You were almost asleep the whole time."

"You noticed that?" he asked sheepishly.

"I would have to be blind not to notice," she grinned "You were practically snoring."

Barry held up his hands "Alright, alright. How about another game?"

"Can I just watch you?" Sif asked "If you don't mind that is."

"Not at all," Barry smiled "How about… Assassin's Creed. It's pretty interesting and the history is as accurate as it goes."

Sif perked up "Sure. Sounds interesting."

* * *

It was a hot day. One of the hottest days this summer and Barry was sweating all over the place "How do you do it?" he asked, looking at Sif who looked as if she wasn't affected by the heat at all.

"What?" she asked, looking up from her book.

"How aren't you melting?" Barry asked.

Sif raised an eyebrow "It's not that bad."

"Not that…" Barry broke off "Okay, that's it. Get your swim stuff. We're going to the beach."

"Bossy," Sif told him "Also, I don't have swim stuff."

Barry blinked "What? Why not?"

"Because I don't go swimming?" Sif shrugged.

"But you've been to the beach, right?"

Sif shot him a look "Of course, I've been at the beach. I'm over a thousand years old."

"Okay, let me rephrase that. Have you ever been to the beach for fun? Sunbathing, relaxing, having fun?"

"Nope," Sif shook her head "Not that I remember, at least."

Barry dropped his head back "How did you survive? Your life sounds boring."

"Shut up," Sif grumbled.

"I'm serious," Barry shot back before getting up "I'm grabbing us some stuff and then we're going to buy you a bathing suit. And then we're going to the beach."

Sif sighed "Just take a shower or something. It's way easier than doing all that crap just for a beach."

"No way," Barry exclaimed "We're going. Come on."

* * *

He didn't think this through. He didn't think this through at all. Barry was sitting in one of the chairs by the changing rooms, trying to force down the redness in his cheeks. It was almost embarrassing how red he was. Stupid mirror.

"Hm," Sif sighed from inside the changing room. She was examining herself in the mirror critically before shaking her head. The white didn't work with her skin tone at all. It might also be because she preferred darker colours "I don't think I like it." She pulled it off, putting it into the discard pile. There was one left and so far there were two bathing suits that she actually liked the look of.

Barry looked up when Sif stepped out a few minutes later, his jaw-dropping "Woah," he breathed.

"How is this?" she asked, turning to look into the mirror. The bikini was a dark blue with two straps going around her ribs just a bit underneath her breasts "Barry?"

"Oh, erm…" Barry flushed even more "I… Good."

"You… Good?" Sif repeated, suppressing the laughter "Really?"

Barry nodded "Yeah."

"I like this one," she nodded, studying herself again "I really like it."

"Oh, thank God," he mumbled. Barry wasn't sure how much more he could have taken of Sif modelling bikinis. It was hard enough with her normal clothes but this… He already knew she looked good but Sif in a bathing suit was a whole different story.

* * *

They got to the beach to find it more than a little crowded. Lots of families with children and even more teenagers and young adults were milling around, going from sunbathing to the water and back. After looking around a little while, they found a free spot to put their towel down.

Barry immediately pulled out the sunscreen, already feeling his skin burn in the hot sun.

"Need me to do your back?" Sif asked, pulling the sunglasses off her face before squinting at the boy next to her.

"Yeah," he nodded, handing her the bottle. He stiffened in surprise when he felt her hands on his back only a moment later.

"Barry, are you alright?" Sif asked, trying to keep her voice even to hide her amusement. Really, over the past month, she had managed to make Barry blush more and more. It was kind of endearing how bad he was at hiding his crush. She knew that while she wasn't the first person he had a crush on, he never had a girlfriend before. Over the past six months, they had talked a lot about Barry and his unrequited crush on Iris. She told him about one or two of the men she was with, although she never went into detail. Most of the people she slept with, she didn't care about. Not in the sense of love, anyway "I can see you turning red from back here.

Barry blushed even more "Shut up," he hissed, cursing when his voice came out squeaky.

"Okay, okay," she snorted, finishing up "All done."

"Thanks," he told her, watching as she pulled off her shirt and shorts to lay down on the towel "Don't you need some too?"

Sif raised her hand, wiggling around her pointer finger "I don't burn. Literally. I can't even tan anymore. The sun is just… there."

"Huh," Barry mumbled, flopping down. He blinked against the sun for a few moments before closing his eyes with a sigh "That's so unfair."

* * *

"How can you not care?" Barry burst out after a while.

Sif was lying on the towel next to him, seemingly completely relaxed as the sun shone down on them "Hm?"

"I don't like the way these guys are staring at you," he muttered, shooting a glare at a group of guys who had been eyeing Sif for way too long.

"Let them," she shrugged, not even opening her eyes to look over to them "Ignore it, Barry."

Barry grumbled and laid back "I don't like it."

Sif glanced over at him with a smirk. She loved to tease him about his crush on her. Not that she minded, she was coming to really like the boy, no matter how nerdy he actually was "Why? Jealous?"

"What?" Barry spluttered. His cheeks flushed in embarrassment "No. I just…"

Sif raised her eyebrow "What do you want me to do about them, then? Rip their eyes out? Might I remind you that it was your idea to come here?" She paused before sighing "They're just looking. As long as they don't actually talk to me, I don't care. And neither should you."

"But…"

"Just relax and enjoy the sun," Sif mumbled "That's why we're here, right?"

Barry nodded and flopped down again "I still can't believe that you've never been to the beach just for fun."

"Eh," she shrugged "My siblings weren't really into the whole relaxing thing and alone this is kind of boring."

"True," Barry agreed before they fell quiet again, just enjoying the sun while being so close to each other.

The peace and quiet didn't last though because not even ten minutes later, a shadow fell over Sif, causing her to open her eyes reluctantly. A guy was standing in front of her, smiling nervously "Yeah?"

"Hey, I… Erm, I saw you over here and I thought I would come and talk," the guy started.

Sif blinked once, immediately dismissing him "I'm not interested."

The guy didn't move though "At least tell me your name. I'm Chase."

"She said that she isn't interested," Barry cut in, getting annoyed. He knew as soon as he had seen Sif in the bikini that it had been a mistake on his part. Not that he didn't like looking at her… The thought caused him to blush a bright red, his eyes wandering to his friend for a moment before narrowing back on the guy in front of them.

"Stay out of this, loser," Chase shot back "Come on, baby. I'm so much better than… that nerd."

Sif narrowed her eyes "I think I can decide that for myself, don't you?

Barry choked back a laugh at her reply, causing Chase to glare "I'll show you what's funny," he hissed "You and your slut of a girlfriend."

"What did you just call her?" Barry asked lowly.

Sif stood up and grabbed Barry's arm before he could throw himself at the bigger guy "Leave it, Barry. He's not worth it."

"Yeah, leave it, Barry," Chase taunted.

Sif closed her eyes and inhaled "Okay, this is starting to get on my nerves…"

Barry shrugged, gesturing when a grin stole its way across his face. He had known Sif long enough to know what she was about to do "Go for it."

Sif took a couple of controlled steps towards Chase, tilting her head to the side. He froze, unsure of what to do now that the girl actually seemed interested. Sif glanced over his shoulder to the group of guys Chase had been with before she leaned up and whispered something into his ear. When she stepped back, she held out her hand "I want to go for a swim," Sif decided "Want to come with me, Barry?"

Barry's face lit up, sending a smug smirk to Chase who was blinking rapidly "Sure."

"Great," Sif nodded.

"So… Swimming?" Barry asked once they reached the cool water.

Sif gestured "After you."

As soon as Barry stepped into the water, he recoiled back "Oh, that's cold."

"Scared?" Sif taunted, walking past him before diving underwater as soon as she was at chest height. She turned back to see Barry watching her "Come on. I thought you wanted to swim."

"Did I?" Barry mumbled under his breath. He shook his head and made his way towards Sif, shivering all the way. Just before he reached her, a splash of water hit his face "What was that for?"

Sif shrugged "You were being too slow."

"I'll show you slow," Barry huffed, reaching out to try and grab Sif.

She stuck out her tongue as she slipped away "Catch me if you can," she taunted.

The two messed around for a while with Barry trying to catch Sif while she continued to splash him with water every now and again. Barry spluttered through a mouth of seawater and sighed "Okay, okay. I give."

"You held out longer than I thought you would," Sif told him with a small grin, waiting for him to catch up to her "Thanks, by the way."

Barry tilted his head in confusion "For what?"

"For today," she replied, moving a bit closer to him again. They were a couple of inches apart by now but neither felt like moving away "I haven't had this much fun in a while, so… Thanks."

"You're welcome," Barry breathed, his eyes going from Sif's lips to her eyes and back. He swallowed nervously before leaning down a bit, brushing their lips together.

Sif barely had enough time to blink before he pulled back again. When he opened his mouth to apologise, she shook her head, reaching out to pull herself up "Don't be stupid," she mumbled, pressing their lips together again.


	4. Je Suis Comme Je Suis

The sound of coughing ripped Sif out of her dreamless sleep "Are you okay?" she asked sleepily, rubbing her eyes as she looked at Barry "You look like hell."

"Thanks," he croaked, trying to level Sif with a disgruntled glare.

"Sorry," she grinned and reached out to touch his forehead "Well, you seem to have caught a cold with the stupid stunt you pulled yesterday."

Barry coughed and closed his eyes "Not in the mood for your 'I told you so', Sif."

"I wasn't going to say it," she pointed out "Not until you're better in any case."

She got up, making to go to the kitchen when Barry sat up in alarm. His face changed colours immediately and the little colour he had from his fever left his cheeks "Where are you going?"

"Lay back down before you vomit," Sif grumbled, pushing him back down "I was just going to get you something for the fever. I think I still have some Tylenol lying around somewhere from when you hit your head while trying to play Baseball."

"Please don't remind me," he mumbled, burrowing back into his blanket.

Sif rolled her eyes and ran to grab the medication with a glass of water. She also looked around the kitchen to see whether she had the right ingredients for some soup for later. Well, at least it wasn't like she didn't have any experience with taking care of sick people. It had been a long time but she had worked as a nurse after all.

* * *

"How are you so good at this?" Barry asked, sipping at his soup. He flinched and almost dropped the mug when his tongue burnt painfully.

Sif leaned back and looked over at him "Good at what?"

"At taking care of me," Barry explained "I know that you care for me but… I didn't think that you would stay around after noticing that I'm a useless Human or whatever."

"You're not useless," Sif chided, reaching out to run her hand through his hair "And you might be Human but you're my Human."

Barry struggled with the blankets, almost spilling the soup over himself "Am I really?"

"You aren't normally this insecure," Sif murmured, taking the mug while Barry draped himself over her "And to answer your previous question… I was a nurse once. A long time ago."

"Will you tell me about it?" Barry asked, his eyes wide and curious.

Sif smiled at the image he presented and let out a sigh "It's not a very happy story."

"Please?" he pleaded.

"Fine," she mumbled and closed her eyes for a moment.

_Flashback_

_Sif looked over her shoulder when she heard Rebekah's voice somewhere behind her "There, there… unidentified sick man." Really, Sif had no idea what her sister was even doing here because it was obvious that Rebekah hated every moment of this._

_She turned back to the boy she was tending to, a frown of worry crossing her face at his pallor "Hey, kid," she whispered, making the boy open his eyes. She had seen him the day before and had started talking to him. It broke her heart to see a child as young as him here without hope of surviving the next week "See? I told you that I'd be back."_

" _Sif," he coughed, spitting up the blood that had pooled in his mouth "It hurts."_

_Sif ran her hand through his sweaty hair "I know. I'll get you something for the pain, alright? Just give me a second."_

_The boy reached out and grasped at her sleeve weakly "Please don't leave me."_

" _I'm not. I'm staying right here," she smiled sadly and looked up when another nurse walked past "Hey, Claudia? Can you send Genevieve over for a moment?"_

_Claudia looked up, her eyes going from Sif to the sick boy before softening "Of course." Claudia was a witch as well but she wasn't as good with herbal medicines as Genevieve. Their Coven had taken it upon themselves to help the sick and they were more than surprised when Sif had shown up out of nowhere, her sister following behind. Compared to Rebekah, the other Original was an actual help though, so none of them ever opposed to her presence. They heard what she had been doing for the orphans and children around the city and seeing her with the sick ones made them respect her at least a little bit "Gen? You're needed."_

" _You," Rebekah gestured to Claudia when she stepped up to the group "You should come too. After playing angels of mercy all day, I'd say we all deserve some fun."_

_Genevieve raised her eyebrow at Claudia "What do you need?"_

" _Over there." Claudia directed her over to where Sif was still talking to the young child._

" _Thank you," Sif smiled when Genevieve fed her charge a couple of sips of her remedy._

_Genevieve nodded "I know that it won't help in the end, but at least it eases his suffering for a little."_

" _I'm sure the hospital is grateful for your help," Sif said "Yours and that of your Coven."_

" _Genevieve," Rebekah called out, narrowing her eyes on her sister. She was only doing this because she wanted to show that she could do what Sif is doing. That, and she wanted to get close to the Coven but the longer she stayed here, the more she started hating it. All the sick people… "Are you coming?"_

" _One moment," Genevieve gave back and turned to Sif "Do you want to come?"_

_Sif shook her head "I want to stay until he goes back to sleep. Plus, I have something else to do today."_

" _The children?" Genevieve questioned._

" _The children," Sif agreed "There are more and more every day." She glanced to her sister "But you should be going. Rebekah isn't known for being patient."_

_End Flashback_

"You have a sister? Oh, right," Barry nodded to himself "You have lots of siblings."

Sif cracked a small smile "I do."

"But you don't get along," he added, burying his nose in Sif's neck.

"No. Most of us don't," she agreed "Rebekah and I have had our… differences for quite a while. But what happened after that day in the hospital was what really changed our relationship."

Barry hummed tiredly "What happened?"

_Flashback_

" _Sif," Genevieve panted, hurrying up to the Original "We have to talk."_

_Sif looked up from the man she was feeding with a frown "What's wrong, Gen?"_

" _Rebekah," she sniffed, sinking down by Sif's side "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have done…"_

" _Genevieve," Sif cut her off, turning to face her completely._

_Genevieve looked at her shaking hands "I sent a message to Mikael."_

_Sif stiffened "What?"_

" _I'm sorry," Genevieve apologised "I'm so, so sorry. Rebekah…"_

" _Listen to me, Gen," Sif spoke up, reaching out to place her hand on the witch's shoulders "This isn't your fault. This is on Rebekah. She knows exactly what Mikael did to Nik, to all of us." She squeezed gently "Can you take care of my patients? I think there's someone I have to speak to." Genevieve shot her a frightened look "No, not Nik. I'm going to talk to Rebekah."_

_Scene Change_

_"What the hell did you do, Rebekah?" Sif demanded._

_"Sif, you have to understand..."_

_Sif held up her hand, cutting her sister off "You brought Mikael here, Rebekah. There's nothing that can make this better."_

_"Just don't tell Nik," Rebekah pleaded._

_Sif snorted "You're joking, right? Just because you want to be with your boy toy, you want me to leave Nik to fend for himself?" She sneered "There's no way I'm going to go along with you on that."_

_"Then I'm sorry about this," Rebekah murmured._

_Sif narrowed her eyes "What are you going to do, huh? I'm not going to let you get away with this and I'm sure that neither will Genevieve. You manipulated her into this."_

_"Maybe," Marcel's voice sounded from behind Sif as he lunged forward to restrain her "But we can do this."_

_Sif was about to fight against his grip when her eyes fell on Rebekah. She stared at her younger twin's hands before pressing out through clenched teeth "I'm not going to forgive this, Rebekah."_

_"I'm sorry, Sif," the younger of the twins whispered before burying the dagger she had stolen in Sif's chest "I'm sorry."_

_End Flashback_

"Despite everything," Sif murmured, hiding her face in a sleeping Barry's hair "I trusted her. She is my sister and she let me rot. Her and Marcel both."

* * *

Barry set the tablet on the bedside table next to a sleeping Sif and sat down on the edge "Morning," he whispered, bending forward to press a sweet kiss to her lips.

Sif blinked open her eyes before her gaze was drawn to where the tablet was resting "Barry? What's going on?"

He smiled and nodded to the present that was lying next to the glass of blood innocently.

"I told you I didn't want to do anything for my birthday," Sif sighed, sitting up "I don't want to celebrate."

Barry shrugged "I don't have anything planned other than a date with the couch and maybe a few movies?"

Sif grumbled under her breath, sounding fond rather than annoyed "You're not going to let this go, are you?"

"Not at all," Barry grinned and reached over to hand her the present "Here."

"What is it?"

Barry rolled his eyes "You'll see once you opened it, won't you?"

"Damn, I missed the times you would blush and stutter," Sif huffed with laughter shining in her eyes.

"No," Barry contradicted her before leaning forward to place another kiss to her lips "You really don't. Now, open it."

Sif carefully worked on the wrapping paper, peeling it away to reveal a picture frame. A small smile crossed her face at the motive. It had been before they had been together but Barry and she had gone to the dance that one of the college's clubs had thrown. It had been adorable to see Barry in a tux. He looked like an overgrown kid trying to seem like an adult. Not that he necessarily acted like it but still. It was a night she held in fond memory "Thank you," she whispered "I love it."

"You're welcome," he nodded "Jason came to me and asked me whether I wanted to picture. You remember him? He took the photos."

"Jason was the… blond, right?" Sif tilted her head "He is with you in that one club that I can never remember the name of."

Barry snorted "Yes. That's Jason."

Sif raised an eyebrow at the look he was sending her "What? You do too much stuff. I can never remember all of it. Even if I try."

"Well…"

"Didn't you say something about movies?" Sif cut him off before he could get into another rant about what he was doing at college and how he was going to work for the CCPD after he graduated. She didn't have a doubt that he would indeed get a job there but the first million times hearing it had been enough. She loved hearing Barry talk about what he enjoyed and mostly just sat back and nodded while he was explaining science to her. Sif knew more about science than Barry most likely but she never told him about it. While he knew that she was interested, he didn't know just how interested she had been over the years.

"Oh, right." He held out his hand for Sif to take "Milady."

* * *

"So," Iris started, looking at Barry closely.

Barry glanced from her to the coffee she was holding and he was craving desperately before going back to look at Iris. He reached out to grab the cup when she pulled it away "What is it?" he sighed.

"When did you plan to tell Dad and me about your girlfriend?" she demanded.

"W – What?" Barry stuttered, gazing at his coffee sadly. He only came here because Sif had confiscated his supply of coffee. It wasn't like he drank too much. Not at all. Okay, he might have gone a little overboard but in his defence, he was trying to finish a dissertation and was preparing for a job interview the next week. It would be his first and he couldn't deny that he was getting more nervous the closer the date of the interview got.

"I saw you with her. Who is she?" Iris asked.

Barry sighed and ran his hand through his hair "Sif. She's Sif."

"The girl you moved in with?" Iris blinked "How – How long have you been keeping this to yourself?"

"Iris…"

"How long, Barry?"

Barry flinched at the sharpness of her tone "A couple of months. We were friends when I moved in with her but… I didn't want to tell you yet because Sif isn't good with family."

"She's the reason you changed that much, isn't she?" Iris noted "We used to tell each other everything, Barry and now I feel like I don't even know you anymore."

"What are you…" Barry trailed off and shook his head "You know what? I don't care. I didn't spend any less time with you, Iris. Sure, I have a girlfriend now but I love her."

Iris sent him a careful look "Are you sure that she isn't just playing you?" she asked "I mean… She seems like the type to play and…"

"And what, Iris?" Barry narrowed his eyes "I couldn't possibly find someone who loves me because I'm the nerd no one would ever want?"

"What? That's not what I said," Iris argued.

Barry scoffed "Forget it." Before he stormed out of the door, he turned back to Iris "I was going to tell you and Joe this weekend. Bye, Iris."

"Barry…"

* * *

"Are you going to stay out there all night?" a man's voice called out from the direction of the door.

"Joe," Barry smiled, pulling Sif closer to the man who seemed to be close to glaring at the girl "I want you to meet Sif."

Sif nodded and reached out with her free hand "Nice to meet you, Sir. Barry talks about you a lot."

Joe grunted and stepped to the side, ignoring the outstretched hand "Funny. He never mentioned you."

Barry winced and went to defend his actions but before he could, Sif cut him off "That would be my fault, I'm afraid. I asked Barry not to say anything before. This whole thing was new to both of us."

"You trying to tell me that you never had a boyfriend before?" Joe raised a disbelieving eyebrow.

Sif clenched her hands into fists, slowly getting annoyed at Barry's pseudo father. She bit back the snappy comments but she was no doormat. Even if she let it go now, she wouldn't do so forever "Nothing like this, no," she replied easily "With four older brothers it's a bit hard to hold a relationship."

"Then what makes this so different?" Joe asked, gesturing between her and Barry.

"I don't think that it's your business, is it?" she asked.

Barry placed a gentle hand on Sif's shoulder "Sif, please."

Sif looked up at him and sighed "Alright, alright. My siblings and I had a… break, I guess you could say. I haven't seen them in a couple of years."

"So, you decide this is the best thing to do? Get a boyfriend?"

"I don't know what you think but I didn't actually plan on running into Barry," Sif pointed out "I was going to go back to France to stay out of my brothers' way but… I don't think I want to anymore."

Joe harrumphed and crossed his arms when Iris came into the living room, looking from her father to Barry and Sif "So that's her, is it?"

"Oh God," Barry mumbled "Not her as well."

Sif ran a hand through her hair "Nice to meet you."

"I wish I could say the same," Iris told her "I don't like what you did."

"Pardon?" Sif blinked.

Iris huffed "I don't like how Barry changed after meeting you."

"Are you saying it's a bad thing that he's more confident now?" Sif questioned in confusion "Because I don't think that it is."

Joe nodded "I actually think that you changed him for the better."

"Huh," Sif gave back softly "I didn't expect that."

"That doesn't mean that I like you," Joe said immediately "There's something off about you and I don't want you hurting Barry. If I find out that you do anything to him, you're done."

Sif's eyes narrowed "Are you threatening me?"

"Sif…" Barry tried, reaching out to grab her arm. He knew that she wouldn't let this go easily. She just wasn't the type to let others threaten her whether they had good intentions or not "Please, don't."

"I'm not going to let this go," she shook her head before turning to look at Joe "I get that you want to protect Barry but you do not threaten me, do you understand?"

Joe raised his eyebrow "It wasn't a threat. If you hurt him, I will find a way to make you pay. That, I promise you."

"Promise all you want," Sif told him "You know what? I'm done with taking things laying down. You want to make your little promise? I'll make you one in return. If you ever – ever threaten me again, I won't be so lenient. You're Barry's family and you're important to him and I respect that. I really do. Family is everything. But I won't stop seeing Barry because you don't like me. I can deal with you being in his life because you make him happy. Be the bigger man and do the same thing in return." She turned to smile at Barry, squeezing his hand "I'll go home. I think the three of you need to talk about this. Try not to crash my car, will you?"

Barry raised his hand to his chest "How dare you even imply…" He tightened his grip on her for a moment "You don't have to leave, you know?"

"I think I do," she said, letting her eyes trail over Joe and Iris who were watching her with something akin to distrust "I don't mind. It's not the first-time people disapprove of me."

Barry's shoulders slumped as he watched her walk out of the house "Why?" he asked.

"We're just looking out for you, Barry," Iris pointed out "What do you even know about her?"

He whirled around "A lot more than you do. I assume you checked her out?" he asked Joe.

"I did," he nodded "And I'm not sure I like what I found. There are so many blanks in her life. What makes you so sure that she is who she says she is, Barry?"

"I've known Sif for a year now and she actually saved me before she knew who I was," he told them "Remember the murders going on about a year ago? Yeah, they caught me and were about to kill me when Sif came in."

Joe tilted his head "You mean the murders who were never solved?"

"Ah…" he winced "Maybe?"

"Barry," Joe growled "You're not really helping your point here."

Barry let out a shaky sigh, running his hand through his hair "Can't you just accept her for who she is and let me be happy? I'm finally feeling like I could…" He breaks off, shaking his head "You know what? Forget it. If you don't want to see it, you won't. But please understand that I won't just stop seeing her because you disapprove. I really love her and if I have to give you up for us to be able to be happy… I will. No matter how much I don't want this."

"You can't be serious," Iris breathed, her eyes wide "You would throw away our family for someone you met a year ago? Someone who could drop you in a heartbeat?"

Barry sent her a small smile "See? That's what you don't understand. I would give all of this up… But Sif would probably kill me if I did. Family is really important to her and she would rather step back a little before I give you up. I don't want to have to decide. You are my family but she is starting to become mine too."

Joe watched his almost son for a moment before sending him a small smile "You really have changed, haven't you? I won't say that I'm too happy with her but… I will give her a chance."

"Thank you," Barry whispered, reaching out to pull Joe into a quick hug "Really. Thank you, Joe."

"That just means that you're going to have to introduce her to your father someday," Joe pointed out.

Barry nodded "I know. I haven't talked to her about it yet but she knows that he is in prison and she doesn't mind. She says that she would love to meet him."

"Go," Joe gestured to the door "Make sure your girl is alright. She seemed a bit upset… And for good reasons."

"She's going to be fine," Barry shrugged "Might hold a grudge for a while though. She isn't the most forgiving person if you don't deserve it."

* * *

"Woah," Barry breathed, milling over what just happened "Like… Wow!"

Sif laughed breathily and rested her head on his chest "Are you alright, there?" she questioned in amusement.

"Wow," Barry replied. He heard others talking about it but the real thing was so much better. Especially with Sif. Despite the fact that he had been a virgin and had essentially no clue what he had been doing, she had guided him without being too obvious about it. And hadn't it been a ride?

"Is that your Review to my skills?" Sif asked "Or did that literally just blow your mind?"

Barry reached down and pulled her into a long kiss "I love you, Sif."

"I… I love you too," Sif smiled, snuggling deeper into his chest.


	5. J'Adore le Regard dans tes Yeux

Sif followed Barry out of the train station, ignoring the rain that was pouring down on her "This is going to be a disaster, Barry," she called over the noise of Starling City. It had been a couple of years since they got together already. Barry had graduated and started working for the CCPD as a forensic scientist. There had been ups and downs in their relationship but for the most part, they had been happy. Sif was even sure that Joe had – at least somewhat – accepted her. Well, it might have had to do with the fact that she had compelled herself out of being jailed for something she might or might not have done.

It was also around that time that the captain of the police had learned of her and to not mess with her. All in all, Sif was often seen at the precinct but only a few officers really talked to her or knew about her at all. She preferred to stick around Barry and only him. The others don't really interest her in any way.

"Don't be so pessimistic, Sif," he sighed, running towards a taxi that was just driving away "Wait. Wait, wait, wait. Hey, stop. You don't even have a fare."

"See?" Sif snorted when Barry was hit by a flood of water from a passing car "That is fate telling you that you're messing up."

Barry huffed "Just get us there, will you?"

"Ah, I see," Sif smirked raising her hand to her chest, grimacing a little at the stickiness of her shirt "That's all I'm good for, aren't I?"

"You said it," he pointed out, shoving Sif's shoulder gently.

Sif groaned mockingly "Why do I put up with you again?"

Barry raised his eyebrows "I think it's me who puts up with you."

"Probably," Sif laughed, pulling Barry into a short kiss "Come on. Let's get going before you're later than you already are."

* * *

The group at the crime scene looked at the video until the camera burst into static "This is the only guy we got on video. The rest of the crew must have come in after."

Barry stepped out from where he had been looking at the scene "Actually, it was only one guy," he called out, walking over to them with Sif a couple of steps behind him "Sorry, I'm late. Actually, my train was late. The second one. The first one, I did miss…"

"You're rambling," Sif pointed out, trying to make Barry shut up. From the way these people were looking at them, they were ready to do the same.

Barry stopped short "I'm here now, though, so…"

"Great," Lance grimaced "And who the hell are you?"

"And do your parents know that you're here?" Oliver added, looking from Barry to Sif and back.

Barry blinked at them "I'm Barry Allen…" When they looked at him in confusion "From the Central City Police Department. I'm with the Crime Scene Investigation Unit." He pointed over his shoulder "That's Sif."

Sif waved "Hi."

"We're working on a case with some similar unexplained elements in Central City," Barry explained "So when the report of your robbery came over the wire, my captain sent me up here."

Oliver raised his eyebrow doubtfully and was about to say something when Lance cut in "And you think one guy ripped through this door like it was tinfoil?"

"One very strong guy, yeah," Barry shrugged, he glanced at the people before he continued "Uh, it takes about 1250 foot-pounds of torque to break someone's neck." He pressed around on the tablet he brought and pulled up the photo of the guard "See the marks on the guard's neck? The bruising pattern suggests the killer only used one hand." Barry looked up when Oliver shifted "I'm guessing you don't know how hard it is to break someone's neck."

"Hmm?" Oliver blinked before shaking his head "No. No idea."

Sif narrowed her eyes on his and snorted quietly "I'm sure."

"Uh," the man behind them spoke up hesitatingly "We're gonna need a list of the entire inventory here to figure out exactly what was stolen."

"Actually, I think we know what was stolen," Sif spoke up, drawing the attention to her. She gestured for Barry to explain further as they lead the group to the empty socket.

Barry nodded in agreement "A centrifuge. An industrial centrifuge. Probably the Kord Enterprises 2BX-900, maybe the six series. Both have a three-column base." He gestured to the empty space "Here, you can see the three sets of broken bolts where the thief just – poof – ripped it out of the ground.

"And what exactly is a centrifuge?" Lance questioned, looking at the socket.

"It separates liquids," Felicity explained before Barry could "The centripetal acceleration causes denser substances to separate out along the radial direction."

Barry nodded "The lighter objects move to the top."

Felicity glanced at the young man in interest "What did you say your name was again?"

"Barry," he replied "Allen."

"Felicity," she smiled lightly "Smoak."

Barry inclined his head and startled when Oliver glared at him a little "Eh, you can see the cracks heading towards the door. Footsteps. One guy." When Oliver knelt down next to the socket, he continued "Anyway, it's just a theory… One backed by a lot of evidence."

Lance shook his head "There has to be another explanation.

"Yeah, I'm sure you're right," Barry agreed in disbelief. He turned to Sif and shook his head "Was I this bad in the beginning?"

Sif coughed "No, not really. You were a bit more Damsel in distress than disbelieving."

"I would like to see you…" Barry stopped at Sif's triumphant look "Never mind."

She perked up when the quiet conversation between Felicity and Lance reached her ears "You might want to fill our mutual friend in on this," the police officer murmured.

Felicity nodded "I'm sure he's already on it."

Sif turned from them to Oliver who looked worlds away. She had the suspicion that they were talking about the Hood and if Oliver and Felicity's reactions were anything to go by… No way. There was no way, right?

* * *

"Where are you going?" Sif asked, leaning back against the head of the bed.

Barry looked up from checking on his equipment and shrugged "Felicity said that I should set up at Queen Consolidated. Apparently, Oliver Queen likes to keep things in-house."

Sif raised her eyebrow "You don't actually believe her, do you?"

"Nope," Barry snorted "But if she says so… Are you coming with me?"

"Sure. If you'll have me," Sif shrugged and got up with a small groan "Remind me again why you thought that this was a good idea?"

Barry whirled around "Because this isn't normal and while that guy could very well be your spectrum of the Supernatural, I can't risk not finding a clue about my mum."

Sif closed her eyes for a moment "You know that I support you in your quest, right?" she asked, waiting for Barry to nod "But this isn't the way to get answers. What you're doing is only going to get you fired in the end and while I would gladly compel the Captain to forget… again… I don't think Joe would be too happy with you if you allow me to do just that."

"Just this once, alright?" Barry pleaded, glancing over at Sif.

She groaned, slightly annoyed "That's what you said last time. And the time before that. Look, I understand that you want to find out who or what killed your mother but messing up your life in the process isn't going to help."

"I…"

"It's alright. I just don't want you to get your hopes up too much. I hate seeing you down after cases like these," she smiled "Come on. I want to see Queen Consolidated."

* * *

Oliver was staring out of the window, his thoughts far away back on the island when he heard his name being called from behind him "Oliver," Diggle hurried up to him with a couple of papers in his hand "Got the final inventory from applied sciences. That CSI from Central City was right. The only thing missing is a centrifuge."

"You have to see this," Felicity exclaimed, clutching a tablet "I pulled up CC traffic camera footage from across the street of applied sciences. This is three minutes after the alarm went off."

The three of them watched in silence as a man carried the heavy centrifuge as if it was made out of Styrofoam when Oliver looked up sharply "Can we help you with something, Detectives?"

"Oh, CSIs aren't actually detectives," Barry pointed out "We don't even carry guns… Just some plastic baggies." He chuckled a little and let out a bark of laughter when he saw Sif's reaction to what he said. Sometimes he liked playing up his awkwardness even more than he really was. Just to see how Sif would react to what he was saying. He looked around the room uncomfortably, more than aware of the near glare he was getting from the Queen heir "Uh, where should I set up my equipment?"

"I'll show you," Felicity smiled, going to walk Barry and Sif to a place they could set up.

Oliver held out a hand, stopping her "What's going on?"

Barry looked from Felicity to Oliver before speaking "Your assistant said that you preferred to keep the investigation in house, so I cleared it with my captain to give you a hand."

Oliver grabbed Felicity's arm and lead her off to one side "What are you doing?"

"We need to find this intruder," Felicity hissed "And he seems to know more about it than any of us." She glanced over her shoulder seeing Barry and Sif poking at each other discreetly "Forensic science isn't exactly my forte, so… I'd say we need them. Wouldn't you?"

Oliver gritted his teeth but nodded reluctantly "Mm-hmm."

Felicity grinned victoriously "I'll show you around."

"Why am I getting the feeling you know more about this than Felicity's new friends?" Diggle asked Oliver as they watched the group of three walk off.

Sif subtly glanced over her shoulder before turning back to listen to Felicity "What was your name again? Something with an 'S'?" she asked, smiling at Sif apologetically.

"Sif Mikaelson," Sif introduced herself "Don't worry about it. Barry only mentioned it once, so there was no real need for you to remember it at all."

* * *

Sif was standing by Felicity as she watched Barry set up the equipment, turning on black lights all around the socket the centrifuge had been screwed into.

Felicity leaned forward, watching Barry with a frown "What exactly are you looking for?" she asked.

Barry was close to laying flat on the ground, a pair of tweezers clutched in his grip "Your thief's shoes touched the ground which means he tracked in dozens of clues as to where he's been the past few days."

"If he wore the same shoes, that is," Sif pointed out.

"Well, he isn't you," Barry shot back with a grin.

Sif let out a huff "Hey, you know that I don't have that many shoes. Most of the ones that I do own are comfy. Not like the death traps that other people like to wear." She glanced down at Felicity's shoes and shuddered.

Barry raised the tweezers and got up "Gotcha." He placed the particle in a machine and started the analysis. He smiled at Felicity "Shouldn't take long."

Sif hopped onto the table the computer was on and leaned back. Barry bit his lip nervously, thinking about whether to talk to Felicity or not "So… You've seen him, right?" he asked eventually "The vigilante?" Felicity swallowed and looked away "I read that he saved you. What was he like?"

Felicity stared at the monitor, thinking about what to say "Green," she murmured.

"Green," Barry repeated "That's interesting, right? I mean, why green? Black would be better for stealth and urban camouflage. Me, personally… I think that he trained in some sort of, like, forest or jungle environment and the green is a nod to that."

"Barry," Sif sighed "Tone it down with the fangirling, would you? Not everyone wants to talk to you about that topic."

Barry stopped and looked at Felicity's uncomfortable expression "Right. Sorry, Felicity. But police reports show that he uses carbon arrows but if he switched to an aluminium-carbon composite, he would have far better penetration."

"Maybe he thinks he penetrates just fine," Felicity shrugged as Sif let out a groan.

"Do you want to know something else?" When she didn't reply, he just kept going "I think that he has partners. Definitely someone with a background in computer sciences."

Sif jumped down from the table and walked over to lean against Barry "Yeah, Felicity. Barry thinks the vigilante has partners," she smirked, enjoying the sound of the blonde's heart. It was skipping like crazy ever since the topic came up and Sif couldn't help but to tease her about it. There was no doubt that Felicity was said computer genius and since she is working for Oliver Queen – who just so happened to have survived on an island for five years – there was next to no doubt that he was the vigilante. He just knew too much about fighting and his body language spoke of things that he would never admit to. It all fit.

"Why are you so interested in the vigilante?" Felicity asked curiously, glancing over at Barry.

Barry let out a small breath and looked at Sif for a moment, wrapping his arms around her "When I was eleven, my mum was murdered," he started quietly.

Felicity's eyes widened "I'm so sorry…"

"They never caught the guy who did it," Barry continued and shrugged a little "Maybe he would've." At that moment, the computer beeped, making the tension leave the room almost immediately. Barry tapped on the keyboard before blinking at the monitor "The soil, there's a crystalline structure in it. That's weird."

"What's weird?" Felicity and Sif asked at the same time, looking over his shoulders.

"It's sugar."

* * *

"Wait... How do you...?"

Sif deadpanned. She had been geeking out with Felicity completely by accident. Normally, she pretended that she didn't know too much about science, so that Barry could explain it to her but when Felicity had claimed something that Sif knew was wrong, she had to say something "Barry, I'm over a thousand years old. Did you really think that I didn't know anything about science? I was there when most of it was discovered."

Barry gaped "Then why did you let me...?"

"Because you enjoyed it," Sif shrugged "I love the look in your eyes when you talk about things you enjoy."

Felicity looked from one to the other and raised her hand to her chest "Aww," she cooed "You're so cute together." She then froze "Wait, what did you mean with a thousand years?"

"Er…" Barry grimaced "Any chance you can forget any of this happened? Sif?"

"You found something?" Oliver's voice called over at them. He was walking toward them with Diggle following behind.

The three looked at each other before Felicity nodded reluctantly "We found something."

"There were trace amounts of sucrose in a speck of dirt the killer dragged in," Barry continued, walking around the table.

"Which got me thinking," Felicity spoke up "There's a sugar refinery two miles from here. The land around it is suffused in waste sugar, so I checked it. They had a delivery truck stolen a few days ago."

Sif nodded and pulled up the report "Their truck matches the make and model of the truck the thief used to steal the centrifuge."

"Can you track the vehicle?" Oliver asked.

"I'm trying," Sif mumbled, narrowing her eyes at the laptop she was currently working on.

The stationary computer beeped, showing the results of the scan that Felicity had set running "What was that?" Oliver frowned.

Felicity looked at the monitor and gasped "You're not going to believe this. The truck was just used to rob a blood bank."

"Are you sure?"

Sif sat up straighter "I got eyes on it. CCTV cameras following that guy's moves."

"Wow," Felicity mumbled "Our guy just made off with 30.000 cc's of O negative."

Diggle snorted "He has super-strength, likes blood. Please don't tell me we suddenly believe in vampires."

Sif coughed in amusement "He's not a vampire."

"Wait, what?" Diggle frowned "You say that as if they're actually… You know, real?"

"They are," Sif shrugged "But he isn't one. If he were, no one would be aware of him making off with the blood."

Barry looked at his girlfriend for a moment before he turned back to Oliver "We should get this information to the local police."

"I'll… take care of that," Oliver said before shifting his focus "Did you say that you were working a similar case in Central City?"

Barry grimaced "Yeah… Um… Yeah, you know, it's similar."

Sif took pity on him and interjected smoothly "There was a bunch of robberies a while ago and the things stolen were way too heavy to carry for one person only." She smirked at Diggle "That, on the other hand, was a vampire."

Oliver looked at the two of them sceptically "Right." He shook his head and turned, walking off with Diggle. Sif looked over when she heard him speak up "I want you to look into this Allen kid and the girl… There's more to them than they're letting on."

"His intentions seem pretty clear to me," Diggle teased, nodding his head at where Barry and Felicity were standing close together, talking about something on the screen.

Sif rolled her eyes and turned back to the conversation that was happening next to her. They would find out regardless of her interference. That, and she wasn't sure how well Oliver was trained in that jungle. He seemed to have his emotions under wraps pretty well. Depending on the methods he used, it would make compelling him hard. Diggle, on the other hand, would be an easy target. As would Felicity. Not that Sif planned on making any of them forget. She actually wanted to see how this would play out. And whether she would reveal herself to them sometime. They did keep their own secrets moderately well, so maybe she would show them eventually… Maybe not. It all depended on how this clusterfuck would turn out.

* * *

After a quick lunch – or dinner rather – Sif and Barry got a call from Felicity. Apparently, she had found another piece of evidence that she wanted to check out.

Barry walked around the lab they were in, noticing something that he couldn't shut up about "They have nitric acid next to hydrazine? Permanganates on top of acetone? This is the definition of dangerous."

Felicity looked up at him when he shook two bottles "If it's so dangerous, maybe you shouldn't be touching them."

"Better give up now," Sif laughed "Barry always touches things he's not supposed to. It's sort of his thing."

A clap of thunder echoed through the building, making the lights dim momentarily. Sif looked over at Barry who had frozen "Barry?" she called out.

"Yeah?" he nodded, turning away from the window.

"I managed to get a sample of the perpetrator's blood from the police department," Felicity explained "We need to isolate a sedative in the blood. It could lead us to the thief."

Barry raised his eyebrow "How did the police get it?"

"Apparently, the vigilante shot him with an arrow," Felicity shot back with a small shrug.

Barry blinked at her before shaking his head "You're kidding." He climbed from the shelf "You know what this means, right? This means the vigilante's working the same case we are."

Felicity let out a small, breathy laugh "Go figure."

"How did you get it?"

"Barry," Sif sighed "A little less enthusiasm, please. I thought you disapprove of hurting people."

"But the vigilante shot the perp with an arrow," he gestured.

Sif tilted her head and lowered her voice enough so that Felicity wouldn't hear her "And I could go snack on him… Although, from the smell of the blood, I'd rather avoid that."

"Siffy being a domesticated vampire," Barry teased quietly, ruffling her hair.

Sif snapped at his hand playfully "Careful… I wonder why I keep you around sometimes."

"Because you love me," Barry laughed, pressing a kiss to Sif's temple.

"True," she mumbled, running a hand through her now messed up hair. She glanced over at Felicity "I do hope that this whole thing will turn out alright… Especially now that the vigilante is on the case as well. Not that I didn't already know that."

Barry gaped at her "You know who it is? Sif, tell me."

"Nope," she shook her head with a grin "Figure it out yourself. It's fairly obvious once you think about it."

"But Sif… Please?"

"See it as punishment for calling me domestic," she shrugged with a grimace "Let's get back to the blood, shall we? We do have some work to do."

Barry pouted before he nodded with a sigh "So, how did you get it again?"

"Oh, Oliver has a lot of connections," she shrugged.

"Pays to work for a billionaire," Barry pointed out as Felicity put the samples into the machine.

Felicity smiled lightly "Actually, my take-home's nothing special. Especially, given I am rarely at home since I'm with him every night."

"Ah," Barry shifted uncomfortably "I didn't realise you and he were… Did you, Sif?"

"Oh, no," Felicity cut in, shaking her head "We're… He and I are not… No, I do not like Oliver."

Sif grinned "Yeah, we can see that."

"Hey, I, erm, I was invited to a work function," Felicity changed the subject "It's a – It's a party. And I have a plus one." She looked at the two of them "I might be able to stretch the definition to two? If you want to come?"

"There's not going to be dancing, is there?" Barry asked, his voice filled with a hint of trepidation "I'm just not too good on my feet."

Sif choked on some spit, coughing violently "Understatement of the year," she coughed out.

"Shut up, you."

* * *

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Sif asked, resting her head on Barry's chest "I mean… They're bound to find out that no one in Central knows about you being here."

Barry ran his hand down her side "I'm hoping they won't find out until this case is done."

"Have you seen Queen?" Sif snorted and hinted at what she knew about the vigilante "That guy is like a bloodhound."

"He is, isn't he?" Barry groaned "I just don't know… This could still help me find out more about my mother's murder, Sif."

She sighed and dropped a kiss to Barry's neck "The Captain will be pissed when he finds out and we both know that he will."

"I'll worry about that when the time comes," Barry told her before raising Sif's chin, capturing her lips with his.

* * *

The next morning, Sif and Barry were waiting for Felicity to show up at Queen Consolidated. While they were waiting, Barry had turned on the Channel 52 News that was reporting about STAR Labs Particle Accelerator that was supposed to go online " _Central City is just a day away from making history when the controversial STAR Labs Particle Accelerator is finally turned on._ "

Barry turned to look at Felicity when she walked over to them "Pretty cool, right?"

Felicity shrugged "You know there's a 100-percent increase in earthquakes since they turned on the Large Hadron Collider?"

Barry rolled his eyes "That data is misleading."

Sif's head snapped up when Oliver stormed toward them, a dark look on his face "You'd know about misleading, don't you?"

"What are you talking about?" Felicity frowned, looking at Oliver carefully. It wasn't often that he was mad but this… Something had to have happened and she had the sinking feeling that Barry and Sif had something to do with that.

"He's not a full CSI. He's an assistant, whose bosses don't know you're in Starling." He looked at Sif "And you… You don't even work with the police department."

Sif shrugged "I never claimed that I did."

He shot her a glare "And there is no similar case in Central City. So, tell me, Barry… What are you really doing here?"

"There was…"

"I wasn't talking to you," Oliver snapped at Sif before turning back to look at Barry.

Sif gritted her teeth and was about to take a step towards the billionaire when Barry stopped her "It's alright, Sif." He looked over at Felicity "I told you my mum was murdered."

"By your father," Oliver cut in.

"Shut up," Sif hissed, glaring at him "You want to know why we're here, so you better shut up and listen."

Barry stormed over to Oliver "He didn't do it."

"You said that the police didn't find the man who killed her," Felicity pointed out, looking from Sif to Barry and then to Oliver nervously.

"The police think they did," Barry sighed "My dad has been serving a life sentence." He shook his head and looked down "They didn't believe me."

Felicity bit her lip "About what?"

Barry swallowed, grabbing hold of Sif's hand to comfort himself "I was eleven," he started, clearing his throat "One night… Something just came into our house, like a tornado. A blur. Somewhere inside the blur, I saw a person. My dad tried to fight it and I tried to get to him when suddenly… I was twenty blocks away from our house. Nobody believed me… Well, no one apart from Sif. But the police thought I was trying to cover for my father. But what I saw that night was real. As real as the man that ripped down that metal door with his bare hands." Barry looked at Oliver before letting out a sigh "That's why I look into cases like this. The ones nobody believes are possible. Maybe if I can just make sense of one… That doesn't deal with Sif's kind of crazy… I might be able to find out who really killed my mother and free my dad." He squeezed Sif's hand before turning back to Felicity "I'm sorry I lied to you. You better find other plus twos." With that said, he turned and walked past Oliver and out of the building with Sif trailing behind, glaring at Oliver one last time.

"He did lie about who he really was," Oliver shrugged when Felicity stared at him incredulously.

She scoffed "And what do we do every day?"

* * *

Felicity was standing in the foyer of the Queen mansion uncertainly. She was still mad at Oliver but she had promised to come "May I have a word?" Oliver asked as he walked toward her.

Felicity nodded, letting him lead her away from his mother and sister "Yeah."

"I'm sorry if I overreacted earlier," Oliver said softly.

"You think?" Felicity snorted and shook her head "Right now you need to apologise to your mother. Not me."

Oliver frowned "For what?"

"For being wrong," she whispered, nodding to the almost empty ballroom. Felicity watched as his face fell and he made a beeline for his mother, talking to her softly.

A little while later, Felicity was walking through the ballroom, wishing she were anywhere but here "Time for a dance?" Oliver asked, coming up next to Felicity.

She looked at him with a small glare "Not really feeling like dancing with you, Oliver."

"I know," he replied and stepped to the side "That's why I called them." He went to walk past Felicity when he stopped "FYI – They will card them at the bar."

"Hey," Barry smiled, fidgeting with his suit.

Felicity smiled at him and Sif "Hi."

"I'll leave you two," Sif grinned, knowing that she had nothing to fear from Felicity. Barry liked her but not like that. Plus, it was more than obvious to both of them that Felicity was totally into Oliver "Fair warning. He wasn't lying when he said that he can't dance. I tried everything but he's still absolutely hopeless."

Barry shot her a wounded look "Sif," he pouted.

"Sorry," she shrugged unapologetically "But you know that I'm right."

"True," he groaned "I apologise in advance."

With that, Sif walked towards Oliver, raising her eyebrow at him "You know that you are this close to having me as your enemy, right?" she asked, keeping her tone light. She suppressed the smirk when she saw him stiffen "Barry is a good guy. Yeah, he lied but he did it for a good reason."

"Who are you?" Oliver demanded "There is barely anything on you anywhere."

"Good luck figuring it out." Sif patted him on the shoulder, going to walk past him to compel herself a drink when Oliver stopped her.

"Do you want to dance?" he asked.

Sif looked at him for a moment before tilting her head "I think there is someone who wants to talk to you," she pointed out, nodding to the woman behind his back.

"I don't really care," Oliver shrugged and held out a glass of whiskey for Sif "I really do hope you're old enough to drink. Wouldn't want to get arrested."

Sif let out a quiet laugh "Don't worry about that."

"Oliver," the woman cleared her throat in annoyance "Are you going to talk to me?"

"I wasn't planning to," he shrugged, sipping at his glass. He held out his hand for Sif to take "Would you care to dance?"

"Hm," Sif smirked "Since it's you asking." She took his hand, letting him lead her to the dance floor. Once they were close enough, her eyes flashed dangerously "I'm letting you get away with hurting Barry this once, understood?" she whispered "And only because you didn't know and I do understand how it looks from an outsider's perspective."

Oliver narrowed his eyes "Who are you? I barely found anything about you apart from you being French."

"I prefer to remain a mystery," Sif smirked "No, really. I'll let you figure it out. It's funny to see people getting frustrated about the lack of information about me."

Oliver hummed, his mind whirring "Did you know that Barry has a crush on Felicity?"

Sif looked at him, slightly insulted "He doesn't actually… He likes geeking out with her but that's about it. We're in a relationship after all."

"Wait," Oliver blinked, stopping in his tracks "You're in a relationship?"

"I thought that much was obvious," Sif mumbled "But yes, we are. Why? Afraid for your little helper, Mr Vigilante?"

Oliver stiffened "How do you know about that?"

"I'm neither blind nor stupid," Sif grumbled "Felicity is sort of obvious and if you know what you're looking for, you're not as good at hiding it either."

"I have managed fine so far," he bit out.

Sif tilted her head "Yeah but that police guy seemed a bit… thick. They don't usually expect people as famous – or rather infamous – as you, Mr Queen." She looked over his shoulder and grinned "Excuse me, I believe I should rescue Felicity from Barry's clumsiness."

* * *

"Yes," Barry nodded, speaking into his phone „Yes, sir… I – Yes, director, I know that this isn't the first time." He listened for a moment before he sighed "Yes, sir, I do value my job very much. Look, I'll be on the next train." After another moment of silence, his head dropped onto Sif's shoulder "Mm-hmm. I'll be back tonight. Okay. Thank…" Barry looked down at the phone with an annoyed expression before he looked up at Felicity "Well, my boss found out I don't have food poisoning… I need to get back to Central City if I still want to be employed which I do."

"I told you that he would find out," Sif pointed out "I could have spoken to him, you know?"

Barry wrapped his arm around her "I know but then Joe would have known and… Yeah."

"He knows about me regardless," Sif shrugged "And I don't really care that he thinks I'm a bad influence on you. I've been called worse."

Barry rolled his eyes and turned to Felicity "Tell the SCPD that the sedative in the thief's blood is ketamine. It's a schedule-3 controlled substance. Shouldn't be too hard to track."

Felicity smiled "I'll make sure they get it."

"Okay." He hesitated for a moment "It was really nice working with you."

"Thank you," Felicity inclined her head "We couldn't have done it without you. Either of you."

Sif raised her hand in a half-salute "Take care."


End file.
